


Photograph Your Smile

by durminedo



Category: Free!
Genre: College AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-18
Updated: 2014-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-12 22:39:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1203145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/durminedo/pseuds/durminedo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa's a photography major, just taking a figure drawing class for an elective credit. He isn't expecting to develop a crush on the model.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Photograph Your Smile

**Author's Note:**

> first multi-chapter fic in....years? wow! i usually don't write this much so i hope i didn't do too bad! i decided to keep honorifics for this au. they're still in japan, so it works.

Nagisa’s phone starts buzzing at the same time the shutter of his camera clicks. He ignores the vibrations in his pocket and takes a look at the camera’s screen, just as his subject flutters away. He smiles at the picture he's taken; the bright rays from the sun provide excellent lighting that illuminates the beautiful texture of the butterfly’s wings, and the composition isn’t half bad for a last-second shot. Content with his work, he stores his camera back in its case and lets it hang around his neck. His phone buzzes again, and this time, he digs it out of his pocket and puts it to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Nagisa? It’s Makoto.” Nagisa knows that voice well, and he would’ve recognized it easily, but he keeps quiet and lets his friend continue. “It’s also ten minutes before your first figure drawing class. Are you at least on the right side of campus this time?”

Nagisa laughs as he slings his backpack over one shoulder. Nineteen years old and Makoto is still checking up on him. Last semester, Nagisa had shown up late to all his classes the first week, and Makoto had scolded Nagisa more than his own mother would. Then again, Nagisa’s mother is a professional who regularly shows up an hour late to her photo shoots, so she doesn’t have much room to talk.

“Yes, Mako-chan, I’m where I should be.” Nagisa treads down the busy school quad and waves at familiar faces as he walks by. He’s not exactly sure where his class is, but he’s got a vague idea, and that’s good enough for him. On the other side of the phone he hears a sigh.

“Good. I just wanted to make sure. Remember last semester—”

“Mako-chan, you never let me forget.”

“Ah. I’m sorry. I just think you should be a little more responsible now that you’re in college."

“I just have issues with alarm clocks. They’re out to get me, I swear!” Nagisa steps into a brightly lit hallway and giggles softly as the bottom of his sneakers squeak against the linoleum. He rounds a corner and at the end of the hall, spots a large door with a sheet of paper taped to its front. On it is written “Figure Drawing” in thin, curly letters.

Makoto laughs. “Sure they are, Nagisa.”

Nagisa hums as he peers into the classroom through the small window set in the door. The classroom is larger than he expected, and he breathes out a small “ooo” in awe.

“Mako-chan, I’ve got to go.”

“Alright, alright.” There’s a short pause and Nagisa is about to say goodbye, but Makoto speaks up again before he can. “Oh! Are we still on for tomorrow?"

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Nagisa’s not exaggerating one bit, and he grins, despite knowing Makoto can’t see it.

“That’s good to hear! I checked with Kou-chan and she’ll be able to make it after all. I’ll see you tomorrow!"

“See you, Mako-chan!” Nagisa slides his pink cell phone shut and buries it back in his pocket. As he enters the classroom he’s still smiling thinking about tomorrow’s lunch date, something he does with his friends every week, and he doesn’t notice someone calling to him.

“Excuse me?”

Nagisa feels a light tap on his shoulder and he turns, finding himself face to face with a woman not much taller than him. Her shoulder-length brown hair and big hazel eyes give her a youthful appearance, but she’s holding a clipboard, and Nagisa doesn’t know many students who walk around with one of those.

The woman takes a pen that had been stored behind her ear and flips through papers on her clipboard. “You’re here for figure drawing? Had you arrived one minute later you would’ve been late.” She twirls her pen between her fingers. “May I have your name?”

“Sorry...” Nagisa rubs the back of his neck. “Nagisa Hazuki?”

The woman nods and writes something down. She looks back at Nagisa and smiles, the kind of smile where her eyes crinkle to the point that they almost look like they’re closed.

“Welcome to class, Mr. Hazuki. I’m Miss Amakata. Take a seat, please.”

 

* * *

 

The first hour of class passes by so slowly there’s at least two instances where Nagisa feels his eyelids drooping. The teacher, Miss Amakata, keeps droning on about rules and policies and the syllabus, the syllabus that has almost slipped out of Nagisa’s hands too many times because he is just _so sleepy_.

Finally, Miss Amakata says something and everyone around Nagisa starts shifting. The sudden movement helps jolt Nagisa awake, and soon he’s caught up in everyone’s pace again. He grabs a drawing horse and sets it in front of the model stand, retrieves a drawing board from the supply closet, and soon, he’s ready to draw.

Drawing isn't something Nagisa has much experience with outside doodles on notes and failed math tests, but he needs an elective credit, and figure drawing is the only class that hadn't sounded like it would bore him to death. Plus, his friend Haruka had taken the class last year, and hadn’t said anything bad about it besides “not many chances to draw water”. From him, that’s as good as it gets.

“I expect you all to have your own supplies by next week,” says Miss Amakata, who’s standing in the middle of the room now, in front of the model stand.Nagisa hadn’t noticed before, having been too distracted trying to set up, but there’s someone standing behind Miss Amakata, adorned in a dark purple robe. He’s looking away and Nagisa can’t see his face, but he assumes it’s the model they’ll be drawing. Nagisa sits up a little.

Miss Amakata whispers something to the model, who finally turns his head, allowing Nagisa a better view. The first thing Nagisa notices is thick, red glasses, and clear, cool, violet eyes.

The model nods at Miss Amakata’s words and climbs onto the model stand, as Miss Amakata turns back to the class. Nagisa tries to place his attention on her, but he finds himself compelled to watch as the model removes his glasses and neatly folds them up, then sets them down near the edge of the stand. He doesn’t look any less attractive without his glasses on. Nagisa smiles and bites his lip, looking away from the model, from Miss Amakata, from everything.

“Today we’ll start with a few two-minute poses.” Miss Amakata glances at the model, who’s already taken the timer from the pocket of his robe. He fiddles with the buttons, and Nagisa hears a few beeps when suddenly the model removes his robe, to reveal nothing.

  
Nothing meaning absolutely _everything_.

Nagisa’s pencil snaps in half.

* * *

 

It’s hard concentrating on drawing when the person you’re supposed to be drawing is quite possibly the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen. This is the case with Nagisa, and for the first thirty minutes he can barely get any drawing done, because his eyes keep getting lost in tracing the contours of that rigid jaw, those strong arms, that chiseled chest, and he forgets about the pencil in his hand (one he had to borrow) completely.

He doesn’t dare look in between the thighs.

Nagisa will admit he’s always been a sucker for good looks, but this is the strongest attraction he’s felt towards someone in a while. There’s one pose where the model stares right at Nagisa and Nagisa feels giddy and tempted to giggle and say hello but he’s supposed to be drawing, and the model is supposed to be modeling, not chatting up a student. Halfway through the pose Nagisa realizes the model isn’t actually staring at him but at a spot on the wall just to his left, and he’s so disappointed it aches. The ache only lasts a few seconds, because soon Miss Amakata is announcing the end of the class, and Nagisa rushes to clean up so he can catch the model before he leaves.

The model’s at the back of the classroom talking to Miss Amakata, who after a handshake and a smile leaves to organize supplies in the classroom’s storeroom. Her back is turned and Nagisa takes his chance to tiptoe up to the model, who had changed into a plain collared shirt with a butterfly on its pocket and a pair of jeans while everyone was putting things away. He’s closing the flap on his satchel and doesn’t notice Nagisa until he lightly taps him on the shoulder.

His eyes widen, but only for a second until he regains his composure, expression perfectly stoic. Nagisa grins at him.

“Hi! I’m Nagisa.” Nagisa’s using his brightest, sunniest smile, the one that always gets people to smile back, but somehow this time it backfires, and the model’s mouth doesn’t twitch from a stern straight line. “Nice work today.” Nagisa winks.

The model’s cheeks go faintly red, just enough that Nagisa notices, and starts to feel excited all over again. The model adjusts his glasses with his thumb and middle finger, a weird gesture Nagisa has never seen before, but that somehow comes off as adorable.

“Thank you,” the model says, and Nagisa’s smile only grows bigger from finally getting a response. It’s a short-lived happiness, because as soon as the model is done speaking, he grabs his satchel and leaves, not even bothering to take a glance back at Nagisa. Nagisa’s shoulders droop, and he stares at the doorway the model had just left from, listens to the squeak of his footsteps as he walks away. Nagisa hadn’t even gotten his name...

“You’re so cold, Mr. Model...” Nagisa sighs.

 

* * *

 

The next morning Nagisa wakes up groggy and not that early, just one hour before he’s supposed to meet Makoto and company at the ramen shop a few blocks away. He staggers out of bed and drags his feet all the way to the bathroom, and almost trips on a random toy littered on the floor. Whether it’s his or his dorm mate’s he can’t tell, they’re both messier than is good for them, and he picks up the toy and tosses it onto his bunk.

Almost landing flat on his face wakes him up a little, and by the time he’s in the shower he’s singing a pop song he heard on the radio last week. He rinses the remaining of his favorite shampoo out of his curls, and breathes in the lingering scent with a content sigh. He shuts off the water while wondering if that model from yesterday likes strawberry.

When he’s running a towel through his hair to dry it, he remembers the model again and how his bangs were so perfectly straight, as if he had spent hours in front of the mirror getting them to sit at just the right angle. He laughs at that ridiculous mental picture, but he also laughs because that’s somehow incredibly cute.

 

* * *

 

Nagisa’s just about to get started on his bowl of ramen when Makoto asks him how his first day of class went. Nagisa slurps down a noodle which gets him a glare and soft kick from Kou, one of his best friends since high school, who’s sitting across from him. He ignores her and slams his chopsticks down on the table for effect, because he has _so_ much to tell Makoto. He picks his chopsticks back up and is shoving food back into his mouth before Makoto can even blink.

“My imaging class was fun. We get to work with computers and stuff!”

“What about your figure drawing class?” Haruka, another best friend, looks up from his own plate, but with a half-lidded stare still manages to look uninterested. At least, for the unknowing viewer---Nagisa’s known Haruka for years, and he can tell he’s curious. He wouldn’t have brought it up if he wasn’t.

“I was about to get to that, Haru-chan!” Another slurp. “I love it. The model is so cute—”

“The model?” Haruka interrupts him, eyebrows drawn together slightly.

“Yes, the model! He’s so handsome and really fit, so maybe he was an athlete once, his hair is dark and well-kept and he’s got these thick red glasses...” Nagisa sighs loudly and leans back in his chair, tilting his head up to the ceiling. “He looks so smart, too...”

Kou giggles. “Sounds like you’ve got a crush,” she sings, playfully wiggling her fingers in Nagisa’s direction. Nagisa sits up and tries to give her a glare, but it quickly dissolves into a chirping little laugh.

“I think I might!”

“Nagisa.” Haruka’s voice cuts through the warm atmosphere like the cold blade of a knife, and his expression is more serious than is typical for him, which is saying something. “You didn’t listen at all in class, did you?”

“Uh...” Nagisa moves what’s left of his noodles around in their bowl with his chopsticks. “Not really... The teacher talked for a really long time and I just kinda zoned out, you know?”

Makoto and Haruka both sigh.

“Nagisa, you should pay attention in class.”

“You should’ve paid attention.”

Kou and Nagisa exchange a look at how synchronized Makoto and Haruka come off. Haruka huffs, while Makoto just titters.

Haruka gives Makoto a half-hearted glare and continues talking. “If you’d paid attention, you would’ve known about the school’s model policy.”

Nagisa tilts his head and drops more ramen into his mouth. “Model policy?” He doesn’t wait until he’s done chewing to speak, and Kou grimaces.

“The model policy. It’s in the syllabus.”

“I might’ve lost that...tehe.”

“It’s only been one day!” Makoto sighs again, as if he’s dealing with a particularly troublesome child, and looks at Haru. “What’s this model policy?”

“It’s a set of rules the school has for students to follow regarding the models.”

“Oooh.” Nagisa leans his face in closer to Haruka’s, curiosity piqued. Haruka frowns at him. “What kind of rules?”

“You can’t expect me to remember all of them.”

“Haru-chan!"

“You have to respect the model, and you've got to keep it professional."

“Alright?”

Haruka sighs. “Basically, you’re not supposed to get friendly with the models.“

“Eh?” Nagisa sits back, giving Haruka more space to breathe. “So we can’t be friends? That’s silly.”

“Maybe. But you should take it seriously. You could get in trouble.” Haruka gives Nagisa a leveled stare. “Or he could get fired.”

Nagisa moves his bowl aside to rest his forehead on the cold surface of the table. “That isn’t fair,” he whines. It really isn’t, because Nagisa had so many hopes, and now his plans of making a new friend are completely soiled. It breaks his heart a little. It doesn't make sense to him either, but he doesn't want to get anyone _fired_ , even if it is over something absurd. Kou pats his head, and Nagisa whines again, rubbing his face into the table.

“No wonder he was so cold to me when I tried talking to him...He didn’t even tell me his name!”

“He probably didn’t want to risk losing his job by getting too close to you,” Makoto reasons. He joins Kou in patting Nagisa’s hair. “Especially with...how you are, and everything.”

Nagisa lifts his head to pout at Makoto. “What’s that supposed to be mean?”

Makoto raises both of his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Nothing bad! It’s just...Well, Nagisa, you have this effect on people...How do I put it...” Makoto starts rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

“I’ve got an addictive smile?”

“No, that’s not it...”

“My eyes are so captivating they can lure sailors to their watery grave?”

“No...”

“I’m so cute I’m irresistible?”

Kou laughs and takes a swig of her soda. “As if.”

“Oh, I’ve got it!” Makoto smiles and snaps his fingers. “It’s your aura. You’ve got this aura that just attracts people to you. He probably felt it and didn’t want to get too close.”

Nagisa puts his head back down and sighs, stretching it out for as long as he can.

“Damn my aura. And the school rules. Those too.”

**Author's Note:**

> rei? a model?? nude???? yes. yes. 
> 
> this ~model policy~ is actually inspired by the policy we have at my school. it's just maybe a bit more strict, but nagisa's school is an older private art school that's rigid on the policies it was based on, so it makes a little more sense. poor nagisa.
> 
> i have this fic planned out, so i hope to update once a week! of course i have school and such, but i'll try my best! thank you for reading!!


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